The Uneasy Narrator: Chinese Fiction from the Traditional to the Modern (London Oriental S.) - Hardcover

Zhao, Henry Y.H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0197136117 ISBN 13: 9780197136119

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1995

Synopsis

In the generic hierarchy of Chinese culture, fiction used to occupy a low position. But in 20th-century China fiction has become a highly important cultural discourse. This change of cultural status coincided with the emergence of modern Chinese fiction, for which the Western influence used to be held responsible. The book, however, tries to find the intrinsic cause for this spectacular development while offering a historical analysis of the narrative form of Chinese fiction, and argues that it is the re-orientation of Chinese culture that serves as the motive force for this development. Never before has Chinese fiction, traditional or modern, been discussed with the formalistic-culturological approach, which leads, in this book, to revealing observations about Chinese culture. This book is intended for scholars and students of Chinese literature and culture.

About this title

Review:

"Zhao deserves the reader's praise for having produced a fine, pioneering study of a most involved topic, one which obviously requires profound knowledge and intellectual vigor. The book is provocative and often brilliant in its complex and nuanced understanding of the status of vernacular fiction in Chinese culture....a significant contribution that will benefit not only vernacular-fiction specialists but also students of Chinese literature in general."--World Literature Today

About the Author:

Henry Y. H. Zhao is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Literature, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0197136117
• ISBN 13: 9780197136119
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 311